Keeping It In the Family: Tapit Reigns in Belmont Entries
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| Tapit |
The final leg of the U.S.
Triple Crown is upon us with 10 runners taking their place in the Belmont
Stakes with many familiar faces. Tapit again reigns supreme in the entries as the sire with the most runners while three sires
who currently stand internationally are also representing their current
countries.
Birthdays: While both the Kentucky and Epsom Derby winners were
born in May, the odds are stacked against that month in this classic. Of the 10
horses entered, only one was born in May – that being Grade 3 Peter Pan third
Intrepid Heart (Tapit). Six of the 10 entries were born in February with February
12th birthday boy Joevia (Shanghai Bobby) the oldest by six days over Spinoff
(Hard Spun). March has no representatives with the other three runners all born
in April.
The first two legs of this Triple Crown were won by horses born on May
8 (Country House) and April 17 (War Front).
International Sires: Of the 10 runners, three are sired by
stallions currently standing outside the United States. Only Master Fencer was conceived in another
country, however, with Just a Way (Heart’s Cry) standing in Japan for his whole
career. Take Charge Indy (A.P. Indy) was sold to South Korea at the end of 2016
when Everfast was a weanling and Shanghai Bobby (Harlan’s Holiday) relocated to
Japan for the 2019 breeding season.
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| Sir Winston |
Fresh Horses: Only three of the 10 horse in the Belmont Stakes haven’t
run in a Triple Crown race this year. Joevia is coming into the race off a win
in the Long Branch Stakes at Monmouth Park on May 12, Intrepid Heart finished
third in the Peter Pan that same day, and Sir Winston was an impressive second
in that race.
Of those who have run in the Triple Crown, three last ran in the
Preakness Stakes three weeks ago while four of them ran in the Kentucky
Derby five weeks ago. War Of Will (War Front) is the best finisher of the
Triple Crown runners with a Preakness victory while Tacitus (Tapit) is the best
of the Kentucky Derby finishers. War Of Will is the only horse to contest all
three legs of this year’s Triple Crown.
Tapit: Tapit has proved to be King of the Belmont Stakes
over the past five years with three winners of the race (2014, 2016, 2017). The
stallion's results also include a second by Frosted to American Pharoah (Pioneerof the
Nile) in 2015, a 1st-3rd finish in 2016 with Creator and Lani, and a
third-place finish with Hofburg in 2018. Not surprisingly, he is well
represented in this edition with nearly a third of the field. Tacitus leads the
way as the morning line favorite with War of Will and Intrepid Heart also
running in the race.
Between his grandson and son Take Charge Indy, A.P. Indy’s sireline is
responsible for four of the 10 runners in the race. A.P. Indy has been well
represented in this year’s Triple Crown races with seven Triple Crown runners by
stallions from his sireline and six others out of mares by stallions from his
sireline to give him 13 of the 32 runners (40.63 percent). The best of his
results were a pair of thirds from Tacitus in the Kentucky Derby and Owendale
(Into Mischief) in the Preakness.
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| War Front |
Stud Fees: The average stud fees of the five stallions who had advertised
fees in both 2015 and 2019 is $113,866, up 7.14 percent from the $106,279 they stood
for in 2015. The highest of those fees is War Front (Danzig), who has seen an
increase of 66.67 percent over the past four years from $150,000 to $250,000. Tapit stood
for the highest fee in 2015 at $300,000, which was lowered to $225,000 this
year. He is the only one to see a lowered fee compared to 2015 with Shanghai
Bobby’s stud fee of 2 million yen roughly US$18,450 on the current exchange after
standing for $15,000 in the United States in 2015 and Just a Way standing for 4 million yen (approx.
$35,881), up from 3 million ($31,396) in 2015.
The average 2019 stud fees for the stallions is up considerably from
the $68,183 of the Kentucky Derby and up slightly from the $110,125 of the Preakness.
It should be taken into account however that 14 different sires in the Derby
had advertised stud fees both years and eight in the Preakness.
Ages: The average age of the eight sires at conception in the
Belmont was 12.125 years with Shanghai Bobby the youngest at five and Awesome
Again the oldest at 21. Three sires were only five or six when their runner was
conceived, three in their early teens (12 – 14) with two in their 20s. The
Kentucky Derby average age at conception was 10.16 years of age for 19 sires (youngest
4, oldest 20) and the Preakness was 10 for 12 sires (youngest 6, oldest 17).
The 10 dams with runners in the Belmont trend a little lower in age at 8.7 years old with the
youngest four and the oldest 15. This is closer in line to the 20 dams with
Derby runners, who had an 8.65 average (youngest 5, oldest 15) with the Preakness
group the youngest with 13 mares averaging 8 years (youngest four, oldest 15).
War Of Will’s dam was the oldest in each race at 15 years old when he was conceived.
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| Close Hatches |
Dam Success: The most accomplished dam on the racetrack is Close
Hatches, who also produced Tacitus as her first foal. There are two other Grade
1 winners in the field (Zaftig and My Conquestadory) with La Gran Bailadora the
only other graded winner as a Grade 3 winner. Two mares were listed winners
(Visions of Clarity and Flaming Heart) while three were winners. Only Joevia’s
dam Peace Process (War Front) was unraced.
Visions Of Clarity (Sadler’s Wells) has proven herself to be a top
broodmare outside of War Of Will with one other Grade 1 winner, two stakes
winning runners from her daughters, and one other runner out of a daughter being stakes placed. Flaming
Heart (Touch Gold) follows close behind with seven winners from seven runners, including
two graded stakes winners and her daughter Mythical Bride (Street Cry) produced
recent Grade 1 winner Vino Rosso (Curlin). The mare already has Belmont Stakes
success with son Commissioner (A.P. Indy) finishing second in the 2014 edition
of the race.
Auction Prices: Six of the 10 Belmont runners went through the ring
at least once in their careers. Of their final auction prices, Intrepid Heart
is the most expensive as a $750,000 2-year-old with Bourbon War (Tapit) the
next most expensive at $525,000. The most inexpensive is $32,000 Joevia, who
sold as a 2-year-old for $32,000. Three of the runners went through the ring as
2-year-olds with two selling at the Ocala Breeders Sales and War of Will
selling at Arqana. Keeneland has the most graduates of any sales company with five
going through their ring at least one – including three going through the ring
at the September Yearling Sale.
Belmont Stakes Runners
Horse
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Sire
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Stud Fee 2019
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Dam
|
Highest Level Raced
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Bourbon War
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Tapit
|
$225,000
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My Conquestadory
|
G1W
|
Everfast
|
Take Charge Indy
|
N/A
|
Awesome Surprise
|
Winner
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Intrepid Heart
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Tapit
|
$225,000
|
Flaming Heart
|
Listed Winner
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Joevia
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Shanghai Bobby
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$18,450
|
Peace Process
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Unraced
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Master Fencer
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Just a Way
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$35,881
|
Sexy Zamurai
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Winner
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Sir Winston
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Awesome Again
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Private
|
La Gran Bailadora
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G3W
|
Spinoff
|
Hard Spun
|
$40,000
|
Zaftig
|
G1 Winner
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Tacitus
|
Tapit
|
$225,000
|
Close Hatches
|
Champion
|
Tax
|
Arch
|
N/A
|
Toll
|
Winner
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War of Will
|
War Front
|
$250,000
|
Visions of Clarity
|
Listed Winner
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